


Wild Summer

by ChiliWolfie



Series: Hustle Game [3]
Category: Zootopia (2016)
Genre: Day At The Beach, F/M, First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Friendship, Ice Cream, Kissing, Love Confessions, Pizza, Sexual Tension, Summer, Suspense, Teasing
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-24
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 23:21:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,900
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26087125
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ChiliWolfie/pseuds/ChiliWolfie
Summary: It's a hot summer day. Nick decided to invite Judy for a 'friendly' date after work, so he takes her for a ride, and they spend their time together on the beach.Little did the bunny know that her friend had planned something 'special'. Something, a sly idea, that would finally make her confess her love to him.Unfortunately, later everything gets even more complicated...
Relationships: Judy Hopps/Nick Wilde
Series: Hustle Game [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1860133
Kudos: 25





	1. Summer Fun

“So, what do you think, Carrots?”

“You never said that we are going to-” Judy was at a loss for words. She kept her mouth open and waited for something comprehensible to come out. It didn’t happened, though.

It was unbelievable. A few hours before, when Nick asked her if she wanted to go with him to a ‘cool’ place he had just found out about, she could have swore that he only intended to make her feel better after some _embarrassing_ events of the previous day. Yet, as it turned out now, he still mercilessly wanted to continue their ‘hustle game’. It was a brutally savage move from him, but that was the point of it all – and Judy knew that she couldn’t let him get any closer to the winning position.

The rules were simple for such a tricky game – “Don’t let him know that you love him and he can’t do the same too. The one that will reveal their feelings first is a loser; the other one is a winner.”

Too bad that it was easier said than done.

All things considered, she decided that it would be the best for her if she calmed down a bit. So, the bunny took a deep breath, in the hope that she won’t sound too hysterical, and finished the sentence, somewhat dramatically gesturing at the unusual scenery, “That we are going to a beach for nudists!”

Around them there were many animals of different shape and size having a real good time, every one of them fully naked. The whole place was giving Judy flashbacks about the ‘naturalists’ club, which she had visited with Nick during the Night Howler case. It was some time ago, but she still could remember her initial shock the moment she saw that yak owner’s butt... And then her eyes caught even more once they entered the actual oasis. A lot of different animals swimming in a huge pool, the hippos playing with a beach ball, a group of bears rubbing their backs against the trees - that sight was definitely something that Judy would remember for the rest of her life. It took her a while to pull herself together again, but her determination to finish the case and prove Bogo wrong was stronger than her feelings caused by some temporary unpleasant situation.

“What? You don’t like this place? Aww, what a shame,” Nick’s husky tone brought Judy’s attention back to him. Her eyes landed on the red tod, who was now busy unfolding a large, blue blanket and laying it on the sand. His back was facing her and she couldn’t fully see his face, but she could swear that he was smirking.

Judy looked around. Putting that **one** little but crucial detail aside, the place looked like a pretty standard beach during the summer days. The warm sand under them burned a bit, the waves were rhythmically going up and down, crashing into the nearby rocks. Somewhere in the close distance there could be seen some snack bars and ice-cream stalls. The golden sun, which was embraced by the almost sea like blue sky, was shining above them, caressing gently their fur. A perfect summer atmosphere creating a perfect summer afternoon.

Well, unfortunately, it wasn’t that perfect for Judy – mainly because _everyone_ were _naked_.

“You-” Judy started, her expression changing in a second. She hesitated for a moment, knowing that she needed to be careful with her words. She couldn’t act too over the top; however, if she tried to come off as totally apathetic, he surely would get suspicious.

But what if Judy behaved just like ‘normal’ Judy Hopps?

“ _Let him think that he’s winning and then catch him off guard later._ ”

Having that idea in her mind, the bunny pointed accusingly her finger at him and spoke, “You knew exactly what you were doing.”

“I’ve got no idea what are you talking about, Carrots,” Nick stated, turning his head and glancing over at her. Just as she predicted, a sly smirk was plastered on his face. At the end of the sentence, he sent an innocent wink, which caused her heart to beat a bit louder.

“Ugh...” She placed her paws on her face in the attempt to hide a quite visible blush. There was no point in arguing any further. Neither from her point of view, nor ‘typical’ Judy’s. Instead, she sighed and decided to ask another rather important question, even though she already knew the answer to it, “Am I supposed to take my clothes off now?”

“Come on, don’t be so shy,” Nick leaned over, making their height difference look somewhat smaller, so they were almost eye to eye. “It’s not like I haven’t seen you naked before.”

“Don’t mention it!” She exclaimed, her mind instantly cringing at the very thought of that scene. How many times he could bring it up again and again, only to make her feel ashamed?

…

But then again, it was Nick. After all, what else she could expect from him, especially when they were during their ‘hustle’ game? It was obvious that he wouldn’t be holding himself back.

“You know, if you don’t want to get out of your clothes then you can leave,” Nick chuckled, which only confirmed Judy’s assumption that he had never taken his words too seriously. It was rather obvious that he didn’t want her to leave, however, in order to convince her to stay the tod had no other option but to act like he wouldn’t care if she did. “At worst I‘ll have to find someone else who would be good enough to want to spend time with me… Maybe some vixen? Or another bunny like you? I see a lot of candidates around here.”

 _Ouch._ That was another cruel move from him that Judy wasn’t prepared for.

“Oh, fine,” After a few seconds of awkward silence between them, she turned around and started unpacking her things. Once she opened her own small beach bag, the first thing her eyes landed on was a pink bikini. It was probably her favorite – though, to be truly honest, she mainly took that one to see Nick’s reaction to her body in it. It was such a shame she couldn’t wear it nor show her red foxy friend how good she looked in it.

“ _Now, thinking about it…_ ” It was quite weird that Nick had everything prepared, and she wasn’t only thinking about towels and other things needed for spending an afternoon on a beach. Earlier that day, once they had been done with work and left the ZPD building, Nick showed her his new car, which he bought, as he said jokingly, for their ‘date’. The vehicle was quite impressive – Judy could instantly tell it was completely new and probably cost a fortune. The car was entirely red, which reminded her of the foxy owner, even though that surely wasn’t the designer’s intention. Some part of her mind was telling her that there was some story behind it all, especially since she knew that while Nick wasn’t so short on money as he used to be, he still wasn’t **that** rich for sure. Later, they drove straight to the beach, only stopping by her apartment but not his. How he had time to prepare all that stuff for the beach, was another question. And then, there was a moment when he told her to not put her bikini on and wear it under her usual clothes, explaining that there were changing rooms somewhere in that place… It was clear that it wasn’t a coincidence.

He had planned it all. And what’s even worse, it was almost surely not the end of his sly intentions.

“If I have to do this, let’s not waste any more ti-” Knowing that there was no point in further reflections, she turned around, so she was facing Nick again. She had no idea what was coming next. A high-pitched sound, which could be described as a shriek, escaped her throat.

“ _Sweet cheese and crackers!_ ”

Nick was standing in front of her, grinning proudly, no clothes on him anymore. His green Hawaiian shirt and gray pants were lying on the blanket, the tie next to them on the beach bag. Now, Judy could see that the tod was attractive undressed just as he was with his usual clothing on. The sunlight exposed his red fur with a cream colored belly and his figure. He was slim built, rather far from being muscular or anything, but that wasn’t a drawback at all. And then going a bit lower, where his crotch was, she saw…

“Like what you see here?” She instantly looked the other way, a burning blush appearing on her face. It was too late though. She had already seen it, and there’s no way she would forget about his… manhood so quickly. Or rather like ever.

“ _He’s so…_ ” The bunny was basically screaming inside, telling her mind to stop and not think about what she wanted to think.

“ _…Well endowed,_ ” She slapped herself mentally.

“ _Shut up, shut up, shut up, shut up!_ ” Judy still tried to convince her mind, but it was no use.

“It’s called a hus-” Nick started, though, he had no idea how harshly and quickly Judy would respond.

“Do not even **dare** to finish it,” Now, he was the one who got caught. He shuddered after hearing the tone of her voice. It sounded like she was not playing with him or just teasing – it was a **threat**. He decided that backing off would be the best idea, so he said nothing.

“You…” She hesitated for a moment, thinking how far she could go with her words. Finally, she opted for possibly the least intimidating option, “Bastard.”

“Now… I’ll undress myself. So just turn around! Go to the water if you want. But don’t even try doing anything, Slick,” She huffed, her voice much more calm now, and turned around, hoping that he would listen to her, so she could undress herself with a peace of mind.

“You know that I would _never_ , like _ever_ , try to do something that would make you feel uneasy. I’m a real gentlemammal, after all, sweetheart,” He said, his tone soft with a noticeable spark of his theatricality, as he headed towards the water. Judy didn’t reply to him, instead she let out a quiet groan and began removing her clothes.

A moment later, she joined the red tod in the water. When he saw her, he chuckled under his breath, hoping that she wouldn’t hear it, mainly because he didn’t want to make her mad again.

Judy was next to him, the water barely touching her knees. One of her paws covered her breasts, the other one was blocking the view of the lower intimate part of body from unwanted glares. Nick’s grin widened seeing how vulnerable and shy she was. Knowing that sooner or later she had to expose herself fully, he came up with some excellently devious idea. He was aware that her reaction would end up so much worse than he could ever imagine, but you live only once, right?

_That’s why you have to live life to the fullest._

“This is not a safe zone, you should know. Especially for a bunny like you,” He stated mischievously as he approached her, his cunning smile not leaving his face.

“What are you talking about?” Judy took a one cautious step backward, and she almost fell over and landed in the water doing so. Distracted, she noticed too late that Nick was preparing himself to attack her with a splash, his paws already touching the water, “Wait, no-”

In a split of a second, entire Judy’s front fur became wet. Her reaction was almost immediate and she squealed as the water, that at first felt quite cold, splashed all over her.

And then she noticed that the tod wasn’t smiling because of her reaction. When that splash of water hit her, she instinctively put her hands in front of her face, covering her eyes. The problem was that, at the same time, she exposed the more private parts of her body, while not even being aware of it.

“Nick, I swear…” Her expression said it all. The tod was going to pay for what he had done.

And that’s how they spend their time together in the sea. The war that just begun was filled with splashes, shrieking, shouting, laughing. Occasionally, someone landed under the water, but it wasn’t a big deal, since both of them had a lot fun.

At some point, a one thing that Nick had said before came back to Judy’s mind.

 _“…Maybe some vixen? Or another bunny like you? I see a lot of candidates around..._ ” She knew that he wasn’t serious, but still… If he teased her in such a cruel way, she could the same. So, when she noticed some nearby group of bucks, who had stopped playing a volleyball, just to look in their direction, _or more like at her_ , she only sent them a wink and swayed her hips a bit more.

She earned a jealous glare from Nick. However, to her surprise, he said nothing and only muttered some words so quietly she couldn’t her him. She was a bit disappointed, even though she figured out that he probably understood her intentions.

Still, it was worth a try, though.

* * *

_Some time later…_

“Slick, you know that I could kill for ice cream,” Judy told him, her voice a bit muffled, since she was busy eating the delicious dessert. She gave him a smile, “So, thank you that you’ve bought a one for me.”

They were walking along the sea, coming back from the ice cream van. Judy insisted on buying something refreshing and simultaneously tasty. Nick only bought himself a can of cola from the vending machine. The pair was heading towards a place where the tod parked his car. They already took their things, Nick was carrying both his and Judy’s bag under his arm. As they were making their way to the parking, the sun was setting. The sky was slowly changing its colour, now having an orange-golden tone.

“Calm down, my bunny,” Nick was still looking forward them, however, he had to admit that the sight of Judy eagerly licking her strawberry ice cream was quite tempting – he rarely saw her happy like that. “You don’t want to hurt anyone, do you?”

“Let’s just go,” She rolled her eyes at his words.

A few minutes later, they finally reached their destination. The car was, thankfully, still standing in its place.

Nick took the keys out of his pocket, unlocking the door. Before he entered the vehicle, he turned to the doe.

“Hey, Judy.” She took her focus away from ice cream and looked at her friend curiously, “Do you want to go to pizzeria with me? I see that you are quite hungry, and believe me I would snack something too, so I thought that maybe you would join me.”

“Hmm, I’m not sure if I can believe you,” She gave him a smile, still looking at him questionably but with a bit of playfulness. “What if it turns out that inside that ‘pizzeria’ there will be some hidden club for naturists?”

“Don’t worry about it, it’s a normal restaurant,” He assured her, chuckling at what she had said.

“Am I wrong or… Is this a date?”

“Yeah, it is. A ‘friendly’ date. So, are you in?”

She hesitated for a moment and then made a decision.

“You know what? Take me wherever you want. It’s not like I have better things to do in my home.”

“Then, what are you waiting for. Hop in,” He said as they both entered the car and drove away. A ride had started as they headed towards the restaurant to spend night together on their ‘friendly’ date.

“ _Oh, poor Carrots. Little she knows what I prepared for her. There’s no way I’m not winning that game. I will make you confess your love, Judy._ ”


	2. Summer Trouble

The night was slowly drawing near as the pair was driving through the streets of Zootopia.

Judy enjoyed the ride a lot – the bunny was sitting in her seat, her arms raised up as she exhaled a cool breeze, which was coming from different angles. The only drawback of that moment was that she had to fight with an undeniable temptation to just unbuckle her seat belts, stand up and fully revel in the entire atmosphere of the city’s evening as long as it could last. However, knowing that the animals who were passing by would undoubtedly see her, she gave up on that idea and decided to enjoy their trip as it was. After all, she was a ZPD officer for sweet cheese and crackers’ sake. She was supposed to set a good example for the others, not the other way around. Not that there was a huge chance somebody would recognize her anyway. The sun was almost hidden behind the horizon by now, leaving not that much light to reflect her, the car was moving quickly, and she wasn’t in the city’s spotlight like she used to be during the Night Howler case.

Nick softly snickered at the sight of her enjoyment. It reminded her of the fact that she still didn’t exactly know where they were heading. The word ‘pizzeria’ could have so many different meanings in Nick’s language… Instead of worrying too much, Judy had opted to believe her friend anyway. It’s not like she had a choice at that point.

She was a little curious, too.

They arrived not too soon after leaving the beach. In the end, their trip took less than twenty minutes. Nick carefully parked his car so it wasn’t touching the lawn, otherwise Judy would scold him for it and that’s not something that anybody wanted to happen, especially on their first ‘friendly’ date.

As she got out of the vehicle, the doe took a look at the building in the front of her. It seemed to be quite a fancy place with a modern twist. There was a garden outside with some seats for people who liked to eat in the open air and for those who didn’t find any available table inside.

They approached together the restaurant’s entrance. The neon sign above read: “Pizzeria The Wild”. Nick opened the door for the bunny, showing his classy side again, though, they both knew it was only a part of their game.

Once the pair entered the building, they were immediately greeted by the staff. Nick asked if there was any available table for two persons, and a young vixen quickly looked around. At first, the doe was worried that they won’t be able to find anything, seeing how many animals were around, however her doubts were dispelled the moment the waitress nodded, giving them a faint smile, and showed them where they could take a seat. Judy wondered if it was just a real lucky ‘coincidence’ that they found a one, or if the red fox had just reserved it before and gave them a tip to play along. Maybe it was a reach, but everything was possible with that sly bastard. Well, at least from Judy’s point of view.

Hoping that her mind would finally leave those theories alone, Judy decided to focus on the restaurant’s scenery. She noticed how the place was filled with a huge amount and variety of greenery inside. She could see around them the vines decorating the walls, exotic trees planted in pots and a lot of colorful flowers. There was also a small pond in the middle of the room, in which goldfishes were swimming cheerfully. It was obvious that the owners had no other choice but to stylize the entire place that way since the name of the restaurant was “The Wild”. Still, it was a nice touch, considering that many other restaurants probably wouldn’t even bother doing so.

“Sooo,” Nick decided to break the silence by starting a conversation, taking her attention back to him, “Is my little Carrots surprised there are no naked animals there?”

“Actually, I am,” Judy claimed as she rolled her eyes. Not wanting to waste any more second, she reached for the menu card, which was lying on the table before they even entered the restaurant. Looking at the long list of dishes, obviously mainly consisting of pizza, but also with a mix of pasta and salads, the bunny quickly found the vegetarian section.

“So, I guess, pepperoni for both of us?” Nick smirked, holding the menu in his paw, “Last time we ordered it, you really liked it!”

“ _Here we go again…_ ”Judy cringed inwardly at the thought of eating **that** type of pizza again. It instantly reminded her of that one evening a few days ago, when she and Nick had been watching a movie. She still could remember Nick’s shock, when she had eaten pepperoni with no problems together with him. Most of bunnies naturally didn’t consume meat, since they were herbivores, even though there were some exceptions. However, Judy wasn’t one of them… In fact, she _couldn’t stand_ meat, neither from insects nor fishes and other sea livings. But what she actually liked was surprising the fox and letting him know that she wasn’t that simple. In short, she only had done it to impress him, but not that it wasn’t worth it, though.

“Uh, no. This time, I’d rather order just a margherita,” Judy said in somewhat nervous tone. Nick looked at her with disappointment in his eyes, so she quickly assured him, “But you can buy yourself a one. After all, you’re the one who invited me here and that means you will be also paying for the food.”

“Of course, my princess,” Nick replied sarcastically as his paw secretly went down until it was touching his pocket. He gripped the box with the proposal ring inside, making himself sure that it was still there.

The idea, his sly mastermind plan, was in reality not that complicated – All he had to do was to take Judy for a ‘date’, make her think that he truly is in love with her, and it’s not just a part of their hustle game, and then, when she doesn’t expect this, propose to her. Knowing that she had feelings for him too, there would be no way she would say ‘no’.

And then, surprise! Finnick, who had helped him in preparing the plan, would jump out with the camera. The entire scene would be recorded. Her words against hers. Since everything was supposed to happen far away from the city, there was no way that Judy would think somebody could be observing them.

“You know, I’ve got something else prepared for later,” A wide grin formed on Nick’s face. It was an unintentional sign of what was coming next.

“Can’t wait for it,” Judy gave him a smile, putting the menu aside. She didn’t seem to be excited too much for that, though, she was still enjoying herself. For now.

“I can’t wait for it too, sweetheart.”

* * *

_Some time later…_

After they had finished eating pizza and Nick paid for the meal, the pair instantly went to the parking, where the tod’s car was standing, and drove off.

The location they were heading towards were the nearby cliffs. It was a popular tourist spot, mainly known for an astonishing sea view. Nick was pretty familiar with that place – back in the days before he had even met Judy, he used to ‘work’ there. Unsurprisingly, the job was all about conning the innocent tourists. But that was the past – now he had to focus on anything that was yet to come and happen in his life.

They were riding through a forest, which was located near Zootopia – the city getting more and more distant from them with every passing second. Once they entered the dark woods, Nick realized the mistake that he and Finnick had made - they should have initiated their plan way earlier. Everything around them was already almost pitch black, so he had to stay perfectly focused on the road ahead, the car headlights being his only helpful friend in that case. The wind was whistling around them gently, the moon above shined through the leaves, no sound of living animal could be heard in the closest distance, expect for his own breath. It was far from the perfect romantic setting – it felt rather like something taken straight from some climatic, slow-burn horror movie.

Otherwise, the plan was going perfectly. The only thing that made Nick a bit worried was the question if Finnick would be able to get there in time. After all, it was dark, and, while the fennec knew exactly where he was supposed to find them, there was still a slight possibility that he could get lost in the forest at any moment. Since Nick couldn’t prevent such an unlucky situation from happening anyway, he chose to ignore his thoughts.

_Soon…_

Then, Judy spoke up, in the middle of their way.

“Uh, Nick…” She started nervously, her ears all way down and her voice trembling as if she was afraid of something.

“Yes, Carrots?” Nick asked, without a hint of any emotion in his tone, still concentrating on the road in front of them.

“I’m not sure if I’m right, but I think that someone is following us.”

Nick froze in his seat, a cold chill creeping up his spine. Reluctantly, he looked into his rear view mirror.

“ _What the heck...?_ ”

Behind them there was a black limousine. He couldn’t see neither the driver’s face, nor anyone’s else who was sitting inside. The expensive car’s lights were hollowly stalking them.

Nick thought about their situation for a while, wanting to analyze it carefully. There was no way that Finnick be their stalker – starting, the only vehicle he owned was his van. Though, there was a chance that he could somehow obtain it – after all, it was the fennec fox who gave him the car in which the pair was riding right now. But then, there was the second argument – while Finnick obviously wasn’t the most intelligent person in the world or anything like that, he surely wouldn’t be so stupid to do something as foolish as that. It looked too conspicuous, and it was clear that the person driving the vehicle behind didn’t care at all.

Then he remembered that the smaller fox had mentioned ‘borrowing’ that red car from some rich guy. He couldn’t recall his name, though… wasn’t he a part of a mafia group or something like that? That would explain a lot…

 _Great._ Instead of helping him, the fennec fox only made things worse.

“Hey, I don’t know whoever it is, but maybe they don’t have any bad inten-” Judy was about to finish her words, but then the limousine’s window opened and there was a horrific sound of gun behind them. Whoever it was, they missed the shot, but still it was enough to make anybody panic instantly.

In a second, the instinct, hidden before deep inside, took a control over him. The tod violently stepped on the gas, which resulted in both of them getting slammed back into their respective seats. Judy let out a loud scream of terror as the car’s movement rapidly accelerated.

“ _We need to get away from here. Now,_ ” He thought. Finnick had assured him before that the real owner of the car shouldn’t even find out about his missing vehicle, nor care about it. Oh, wait. _Shouldn’t_.

It took them less than five minutes to reach the cliffs, mainly due to an insane speed of the ride. Nick and Judy, not having any time to waste, got out of the car, her grabbing his paw anxiously, only to learn a painfully harsh truth. Something they both had forgotten about in the madness of their date.

It was a dead end.

The view from there was truly great, though. The sea under them was dark blue, nothing could be seen underneath the surface, nor in the nearest distance. It seemed like it had hopelessly no end... Too bad that they weren’t able to fully admire it, since they could be dead in any second.

Jumping to the water wasn’t an option, knowing that a fall from that height would, without any doubts, kill them.

“ _It wasn’t supposed to end like that…_ ” He had never felt like that before. So vulnerable, so defeated. Nick was truly at a loss for words. He was about to say something, something that would make Judy happy again, just to see her smile again, the smile that he loved so much.

The fox felt a gentle touch on his shoulder. He turned around only to see the bunny, who looked into his eyes, her terrified expression stabbing him right in his heart.

“I don’t know how this is going to end, but… I want you to know that I like you, Nick,” Judy was at the verge of crying. For a moment, it crossed his mind that maybe it was an acting, just to hustle him, but those tears couldn’t be lying.“No, I love you. And… more than just a friend.”

“Judy, I… I love you too,” Nick finally admitted the truth that he had been hiding for so long. It really felt… reliving.

They noticed the black limousine approaching them and then stopping next to their car. Nick turned his eyes back to Judy. She had her eyes closed, almost like she was preparing for her final moment. The fox wanted to comfort her somehow, but even he felt like he lost all hope. So, instead he just hugged her, embracing her small frame. That was enough for her.

Someone approached them.

…

“HAHAHA, looks like you’ve both got totally **hustled**!”

“Finnick?” Hearing his friend’s voice, Nick turned his attention away from Judy. The fennec fox was standing in front of them, his smile almost devilish, as he was holding with his both paws a camera that actually seemed to be bigger than him.

“You out of all people?” Now, it was Judy who spoke up, the tone of her voice simultaneously sour and disappointed. To be truly honest, the only person she would ever suspect of creating such a wicked plan was Nick, however, that wasn’t something she would ever admit out loud.

“Y’all were so busy playing against each other that you forgot that somebody could join the game too. I was behind the trees all this time, while you and your bunny looked like you were gonna piss your pants!” The fennec fox burst out laughing so hard that he almost dropped the camera. However, neither Judy nor Nick found it that amusing as he did it, for an obvious reason.

“But how could you?” Judy asked, her voice sounding more tired than outright angry.

“That’s a good question,” Nick agreed.

“You want to know why? You two lovebirds were so deeply in love, yet never wanted to confess. It started to get on my nerves, so I decided to finally do somethin’!” He had quite a hard time uttering those words, since he still couldn’t stop laughing.

“But then, who was in that limousine…?” Nick asked another question. And that was the moment they noticed three big figures approaching them. It looked like he already got his answer as they saw a group of white bears.

Wait, polar bears?!

One of them was holding something, or rather someone, in his paws. He moved his fingers, exposing a small animal sitting on even a smaller chair. It was a shrew they had both met before.

“Mr. Big? You too?!” The bunny exclaimed in utter shock.

“I have to apologize to you. But when that small fox showed up at my home, I knew I couldn’t turn down his offer,” He explained, his voice as always calm. Judy unintentionally chuckled a bit at how he called Finnick a ‘small fox’, which was quite ironical considering the shrew’s size. “I remembered that you were a great friend of my daughter, and having that in mind, I wanted to do everything in my power to help you.”

Nick wasn’t focused on him, though. He send a piercing look at the fennec fox, who only shrugged it off.

“Don’t look at me like that. Not my fault that you couldn’t get the girl on your own,” Finnick replied, barely holding himself from laughing again.

“As an apology, I’ve decided to invite you both to my house for a party to celebrate your new love, Judy,” She rolled her eyes hearing the last part. Even though they both knew about their own feelings now, it didn’t mean that they were together. “I hope that it will be enough to compensate for that unfortunate situation."

“Then let’s go” The tod was surprised that it was Judy who spoke up first. She hadn’t seen Fru Fru in a long time anyway, and maybe she was the one who would understand her feelings in that messed up situation.

“Honestly,” Not wanting to be left alone, Nick made his mind up too, “I could really use a drink.”


	3. Summer Kiss

“Judy, I swear, I’m really sorry. If only I knew about this idiotic plan, I would’ve talked some sense into my father!”

Fru Fru was sitting next to her, talking to her and explaining everything she knew, the tone of her voice revealing that she was feeling the guilty about what had happened, even though she couldn’t have prevented it at all.

The bunny, on the other hand, was now drinking. She took a sip, the alcohol leaving a pleasurable burning sensation inside as the warm liquid went down her throat.

“I don’t blame you for that, it’s just-” Judy hesitated, as she took another gulp, finishing the drink. Her eyes were locked on the empty glass in her paw, “You know how I feel like right now.”

“I know, I know…” Fru Fru sighed, then she muttered quietly so Judy wouldn’t hear her, “Though, it’s good that you and Nick are finally on the way to get together…”

“So… What are you gonna do now?” Seeing that Judy had nothing else to add, the shrew asked, hoping to get any reaction from the doe, who was now focused on getting another drink from the bartender.

“What do you mean? I will continue to live like I always do,” Judy replied, completely missing the point. of Fru Fru’s question. It took her a while, which she spent enjoying the sweet taste of the drink, to understand the real meaning behind her friend’s words. She probably would’ve gotten it instantly if not for the alcohol’s effect on her brain, “You’re talking about me and Nick?”

“Yes, that’s what I meant…” Fru Fru took a sip of her martini. She was drinking from like a **really** small glass. It looked absolutely comical, but Judy was not in the mood to point that out.

Thinking about it, how would their relationship together look like? To be truly honest, Judy had never been in any before. Yes, she had had some crushes back in high school, but she never paid that much attention to ‘those’ type of matters. The doe rather tried to focus on getting good grades and making other animals around her happy. And once she became the ZPD officer, it’s not like her opinion on relationships had changed that much – she was already happy being single and living on her own.

And then, one day she met Nick.

Since reflecting on their past they had spent together and everything she had gone through with him would probably take months, Judy decided to change the subject of her thoughts. However, one thing was clear – she deeply cared for the red fox, he cared for her too, and that meant they could make it work.

Another question popped up in her mind, though – would the fact that they were different species change a lot? Not that she had never seen before any interspecies couple, it’s just that they were quite a rare sight. Unfortunately, Judy had heard some hateful comments about them, mainly when she had been living in Bunnyburrow. The bunny did her best to ignore them, since they would never have any impact on her decision, anyway. Now, back to the actual concerns, some differences between her and Nick could be definitely problematic. First of all, there was no possibility of them ever having children together, at least not biological ones. But that was something she shouldn’t think about **that** early…

Speaking of it, could they have…? Well, wouldn’t he be too big-

“ _Oh, no. We’re not going here again, Judy,_ ” She thought to herself, successfully shutting her mind up.

But what if Nick had no intentions of taking the next step? Being in love with someone was a one thing, wanting a full romantic relationship was another.

“Ugh, I don’t know,” Judy let out an annoyed groan as she sunk her face into her paws, a familiar feeling of uncertainty slowly coming back.

Another uncomfortable silence fell between them.

“You don’t look well, Judy.” Fru Fru’s spoke up, a hint of sincere concern in her voice. “Maybe you want to go home?”

“No… Not to my home, at least,” Out of the corner of the eye Judy briefly looked at Nick. The fox was sitting with other ‘bigger’ animals, meaning that the polar bears were next to him, the fennec fox too. While they were clearly having a lot of fun, now laughing at some Finnick’s sex joke. On the other paw, Nick didn’t seem to be enjoying himself that much. He was rather not talkative, every time his laugh came out it felt forced. He hadn’t said anything to her after the incident at the cliffs, instead instantly went for a drink, probably wanting to get drunk and forget about that humiliating scene.

Judy knew she had to something, otherwise the very next day he would just probably act like nothing had happened.

“But you could do something for me, you know.”

* * *

Nick stepped into his apartment, switching the lights on out of habit. His head was spinning, his heart was beating fast. The fox was drunk and tired, and that combination had never brought anything good. He would have collapsed on the couch if he didn’t lean on the wall in the last second.

Despite his weakened state, he heard someone entering the room behind his back. Nick turned around. To his surprise, it was his 'friend'.

“Judy?” He asked, already noticing the determination in her eyes. She clearly had to say something important.

“Nick, we need to talk,” She stated, now losing some of her confidence, now that she was in front of him. It all seemed to be way easier in her mind than it actually was in the reality.

“You should be at home, you know, resting. Care to explain why you went to my place instead?” The fox flopped down on the couch and crossed his arms. His tired expression remained on his face.

“I asked Fru Fru if they could drop me off here, well, after you left so you wouldn’t notice me going behind you,” Seeing that Nick had nothing to say, she continued, ”Anyway, I wanted to say that…” Judy hesitated, “I know this might be hard but please don’t-” “I don’t want you, _us_ , to forget.”

“What are you talking about, Carrots?”

“You know what I mean.”

“I know what you mean, sweetheart, but that doesn’t mean that you know what I mean,” _God_ , the alcohol in his brain made his every sentence sound so much more complicated than it should be.

“Huh?”

“Why you think I would ever want to forget that?” Nick chuckled, “As much as embarrassing that moment was, in the end, it still was worth it,” He leaned in, his smirk got more visible. “Cause you were the first one to admit your feelings, and that means…”

…

“That I’ve won.”

“You sly bastard,” She gently punched him in his arm as he rolled his eyes and let out a playful ‘ouch’.

“Yeah, I know. Now, I only wish I could take my reward.”

“What do you mea-” She was cut off by a sudden, unexpected move from the tod. One second, and their lips briefly joined together. Judy had no time to react.

“You think that you can get away with it?” She exclaimed the moment he pulled away, the fury present in the tone of her voice. The look she gave him was deadly.

“Of course, Carrots, I’ve been doing this since I-” Now it was her turn. She pulled his tie down and brought their muzzles together. The kiss was way longer, more eager and lustful, but also loving, than the previous one. The whole situation looked like the cheapest of the cheapest clichés to be found in the romance movies, with exception that it was the reality edition of it.

Unfortunately, everything has its end. Their lips finally separated.

“It’s called a summer kiss, sweetheart.”

And with that, they proceeded to watch stars on the sky as they waited for the summer to be finally over.

**_The end._ **


End file.
